Dwight York (born June 26, 1945), also known as Malachi Z. York, Issa al-Haadi al-Mahdi, et alii, is an American religious leader, best known as the founder of the Nuwaubian Nation, a new religious movement that has existed in some form and under various different names since the 1960s. The Nuwaubian Nation is identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group advocating black supremacy. Other observers describe the Nuwaubian Nation as "an African-American spiritual movement" that had taken different forms since its inception.
York's origins are contested. After converting to Islam in prison, in 1967 he began preaching to African-Americans in Brooklyn, New York, during the black power movement. He last called his group the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, Nuwaubian Nation, or Nuwabians. These were at first based on pseudo-Islamic themes and Judaism; later he mixed ideas taken from black nationalism, cryptozoology, Christianity, UFO religions, New Age, the sovereign citizen movement and popular conspiracy theories. Around 1990, York and the Nuwaubian Nation relocated to rural Putnam County, Georgia. They came under scrutiny in the early 1990s after they built Tama-Re, an Egyptian-themed park compound for about a hundred of his followers in Putnam County.
Before York's trial, the community had been joined directly and in the area by hundreds of other followers from out of state, while alienating both Black and White local residents. The community was intensively investigated after numerous reports that York had molested many children of his followers. York was convicted in 2004 of travel and transport of minors for the purpose of criminal sexual activity, as well as violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. He is serving 135 years in prison.
York's origins and background are contested, with little biographical data available. York claims he was born in Sudan, on June 26, 1945. A 1993 Federal Bureau of Investigation report agrees with that date but claimed he was born in Baltimore, Maryland, while other sources give his birthplace as New Jersey, or New York. His biological father is unknown. York later claimed to be the son of Al Haadi Abdur Rahman al Mahdi, the grandson of Muhammad Ahmad, who led an uprising against the British in Sudan. Bilal Philips, a Muslim countercultist, claimed York was born a decade earlier than he claimed, in 1935, and had changed his birth date to bolster his claims of being Ahmad's grandson.
He grew up in New York City. York was a member of street gangs in his youth; he admitted this in his own writings, and said that he was a "youthful offender". About this time he met Dorothy Mae Johnson, whom he married and had five children with. At the time of their marriage they were both 18; Johnson would later help him manage his groups in New York. According to the FBI report, in 1964 York was charged with several crimes: weapons possession, resisting police, and statutory rape. He was sentenced to three years in prison on January 6, 1965. While in prison, York encountered black Muslim preachers and became a convert. He served less than his full sentence and was ultimately paroled on October 20, 1967. He sold "African incense" on the streets and debated streetgoers on black philosophy.
After his release he attended an Islamic Mission of America, Inc. mosque on State Street, Brooklyn, New York, led by Daoud Ahmed Faisal, who became a spiritual mentor to York. Daoud was at odds with the Nation of Islam and made members carry "Sunni identification cards" to prove they were not NOI members. York was also affiliated with the Moorish Science Temple of America.
In the late 1960s York, calling himself "Iman Isa", combined elements of the Moorish Science Temple of America, the Nation of Islam, the Nation of Gods and Earths and Freemasonry, and founded a quasi-Muslim black nationalist movement and community. He called it "Ansaar Pure Sufi", or the "Ansaaru Allah Community", c. 1970. He instructed members to wear black and green dashikis. He authored over 450 works of varying length that espoused his views. The new religious movement he led has existed in various forms under various different names since the 1960s. In ideology it was black supremacist.
These were at first based on pseudo-Islamic themes and Judaism (Nubian Islamic Hebrews). Later he developed a theme-park derived from "Ancient Egypt", mixing ideas taken from black nationalism, cryptozoology, Christianity, UFO religions, New Age, and popular conspiracy theories. He last called his group the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, Nuwaubian Nation (the "of Moors" was dropped in 2003), or Nuwabians. York's organization was classified as a Moorish sovereign citizen group.
York later traveled to Africa, to Sudan and Egypt in particular. He met and persuaded members of Mohamed Ahmed Al-Mahdi's family to finance him to set up a cell of their organization in the United States. This was to be a "west" or "American" political wing of Sudan's Ansar movement under Sadiq al-Mahdi (also see Umma Party). He began to develop the claim of his "Sudanese" roots in order to authenticate his American branch of the sect.
In 1967, he was preaching to the "Ansaaru Allah" (viz. African-Americans) in Brooklyn, New York, during the period of the black power movement. He later changed his name to "Iman Isa Abdullah" and renamed his "Ansaar Pure Sufi" ministry to the "Nubians" in Brooklyn in 1967. The group was considered to be part of the Black Hebrews phenomenon, under the name "Nubian Islaamic Hebrews" and "Nubian Hebrew Mission" as of 1969. Unlike other groups, they were not Judeo-Christian but Judeo-Islamic.
The community in Brooklyn, reported as identifying as the "Holy Tabernacle of the Most High" and also as the "Children of Abraham", was said to be led by Rabboni Y'shua Bar El Haady. They practiced a mixture of Judaism and Islam. They were reported as numbering about 300 persons and in 1994, the group reportedly still owned nine apartment buildings, of which five were in tax arrears. Local politicians were concerned that the abandoned buildings would become centers of uses that would damage the neighborhood. Anecdotal reports were that some of the group went to Monroe County, New York, and others to Georgia.
York's groups had a variety of names and functions: quasi-religious, fraternal, and tribal. They were called "Holy Tabernacle Ministries", "Egiptian [sic] Church of Karast," "Holy Seed Baptist Synagogue", "Ancient Mystic Order of Melchizedek", "Ancient Egiptian [sic] Order", "All Eyez on Egypt", "United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors", "Yamassee Native American Tribe", "Washitaw Tribe", and "Lodge 19 of the Ancient and Mystic Order of Malachizodok." He also adopted a number of titles and pseudonyms, including "The Supreme Grand Master Dr. Malachi Z. York," "Nayya Malachizodoq-El", and "Chief Black Eagle". In 1988 York was convicted of obtaining a passport with a false birth certificate.
He launched his own record label, named Passion Productions, recording as the solo artist "Dr. York". His debut release and also a video, was the single "Only a Dream" (later included in the album New York, Hot Melt Records UK, 1985). "Dr. York" and Passion Productions were advertised in the May 4, 1985, issue of Billboard magazine. He also released Passion on his York Records and Passion Records imprint. A group that consisted of York, Zeemo (Abdul Aziz), and Steve (Segovia) and later even featured Wendell Sawyer, Vernon Sawyer, and Ted Mills of the group Blue Magic. York said he performed popular music in order to "reach a mass majority of my people through my music." His Passion Studios recorded artists like Force MD's, Fredro Starr of Onyx, and Stetsasonic.
Move to Georgia and construction of Tama-Re (1993–2002)
York left Brooklyn with an estimated 300 followers around 1990. Some settled in upstate New York. He later moved with numerous followers to Georgia. Others joined them from such cities as Baltimore, Philadelphia, Hartford, New York and Washington, D.C. Around 1990, York and the Nuwaubian Nation relocated to rural Putnam County, Georgia, where they built a large complex. At York's direction, the community purchased land and built Tama-Re(originally named Kadesh), an Egyptian-themed complex built on 476 acres (1.93 km2) of land near Eatonton, Georgia. It was built over a period of years and completed in 1993.